SPEAKUP!: A Community-Based Digital Intervention for Youth Violence Prevention and Mental Health

Introduction: Adolescents are highly vulnerable to experiences of violence, bullying, and psychosocial difficulties, yet youth-informed digital approaches that integrate violence prevention and psychosocial support remain limited in Indonesia. Digital interventions may provide an accessible and youth-oriented approach to complement conventional school-based health promotion. This study aimed to develop SPEAKUP! through a formative youth- and stakeholder-informed process and evaluate its short-term effects on violence-prevention knowledge and attitudes, psychosocial functioning, psychosocial health literacy/awareness, and self-efficacy among adolescents. Methods: A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design was employed. The qualitative phase included three focus group discussions with 24 adolescents (eight per group) and in-depth interviews with six teacher/expert stakeholders to identify needs and design the intervention. Based on these findings, the SPEAKUP! app was developed as an integrated multi-component digital intervention comprising psychosocial self-screening, interactive educational content, consultation support, self-care and relaxation resources, and emotional journaling. In the quantitative phase, a randomized controlled trial was conducted with 416 adolescents (SPEAKUP!, n = 208; control, n = 208). The intervention group used SPEAKUP! for four weeks, while the control group received conventional school-based health promotion. Violence-prevention knowledge and attitudes were assessed using the PVAQ. Psychosocial functioning was assessed using a self-report SDQ-based composite psychosocial score, with lower scores indicating more favorable psychosocial functioning. Psychosocial health literacy/awareness (AMHLQ) and self-efficacy (ASES) were examined as secondary empowerment-related outcomes. Intervention effects were estimated using between-group differences in change with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and Cohen’s d. Results: The formative phase identified four priorities: awareness and protection, confidential and stigma-sensitive access, interactive youth-friendly learning, and emotional support/self-care. These findings informed the integrated SPEAKUP! intervention. At four weeks, violence-prevention knowledge improved by 11.4 points more in the SPEAKUP! group than in the control group (95% CI, 10.26–12.54; d = 1.93; p < 0.001), while the between-group difference in violence-prevention attitudes was 6.7 points (95% CI, 5.74–7.66; d = 1.34; p < 0.001). Psychosocial functioning also changed more favorably in the SPEAKUP! group, with a between-group difference in the SDQ-based composite psychosocial score of −5.6 points (95% CI, −6.54 to −4.66; d = −1.15; p < 0.001). Secondary outcomes similarly favored SPEAKUP! for psychosocial health literacy/awareness (10.5; 95% CI, 9.57–11.43; d = 2.18) and self-efficacy (8.2; 95% CI, 7.33–9.07; d = 1.82); both p < 0.001. Conclusion: In this four-week school-based randomized evaluation, adolescents assigned to SPEAKUP! demonstrated greater short-term improvements across violence-prevention, psychosocial, and empowerment-related outcomes than those receiving conventional school-based health promotion. The findings reflect the integrated SPEAKUP! intervention as a whole and support further longer-term and multi-setting evaluation before broader implementation is considered.